Augustine of Hippo on Sovereign Election

Let us, then, understand the calling whereby they become elected,— not those who are elected because they have believed, but who are elected that they may believe. For the Lord Himself also sufficiently explains this calling when He says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). For if they had been elected because they had believed, they themselves would certainly have first chosen Him by believing in Him, so that they should deserve to be elected. But He takes away this supposition altogether when He says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." And yet they themselves, beyond a doubt, chose Him when they believed on Him. Whence it is not for any other reason that He says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," than because they did not choose Him that He should choose them, but He chose them that they might choose Him; because His mercy preceded them according to grace, not according to debt.

Therefore He chose them out of the world while He was wearing flesh, but as those who were already chosen in Himself before the foundation of the world. This is the changeless truth concerning predestination and grace. For what is it that the apostle says, "As He has chosen us in Himself before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4)? And assuredly, if this were said because God foreknew that they would believe, not because He Himself would make them believers, the Son is speaking against such a foreknowledge as that when He says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you;" when God should rather have foreknown this very thing, that they themselves would have chosen Him, so that they might deserve to be chosen by Him.

Therefore they were elected before the foundation of the world with that predestination in which God foreknew what He Himself would do; but they were elected out of the world with that calling whereby God fulfilled that which He predestinated. For whom He predestinated, them He also called, with that calling, to wit, which is according to the purpose. Not others, therefore, but those whom He predestinated, them He also called; nor others, but those whom He so called, them He also justified; nor others, but those whom He predestinated, called, and justified, them He also glorified; assuredly to that end which has no end.

Therefore God elected believers; but He chose them that they might be so, not because they were already so. The Apostle James says: "Has not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to them that love Him?" (James 2:5).

By choosing them, therefore; He makes them rich in faith, as He makes them heirs of the kingdom; because He is rightly said to choose that in them, in order to make which in them He chose them. I ask, who can hear the Lord saying, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," and can dare to say that men believe in order to be elected, when they are rather elected to believe; lest against the judgment of truth they be found to have first chosen Christ to whom Christ says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 16:16) [Saint Augustine on Sovereign Predestination, Book I Chapter 34]

Saint Augustine on the reason WHY Faith is given only to some and not to all.

Faith, then, as well in its beginning as in its completion, is God's gift; and let no one have any doubt whatever, unless he desires to resist the plainest sacred writings, that this gift is given to some, while to some it is not given. But why it is not given to all ought not to disturb the believer, who believes that from one all have gone into a condemnation, which undoubtedly is most righteous; so that even if none were delivered therefrom, there would be no just cause for finding fault with God. Whence it is plain that it is a great grace for many to be delivered, and to acknowledge in those that are not delivered what would be due to themselves; so that he that glories may glory not in his own merits, which he sees to be equalled in those that are condemned, but in the Lord. But why He delivers one rather than another,— "His judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out" (Romans 11:33) For it is better in this case for us to hear or to say, "O man, who are you that repliest against God?" (Romans 9:20) than to dare to speak as if we could know what He has chosen to be kept secret. Since, moreover, He could not will anything unrighteous. [Saint Augustine, On the Predestination of the Saints, Book I, Chapter 16]

Have You Ever Read Romans 9? (James White)

Here's a great exegesis of Romans 9 by Dr. James White. Enjoy.



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The Arminian Election

Arminian: "I believe in Bible election. God votes for you, the devil votes against you, and you cast the deciding vote."

The evangelist (?) cackled like he had laid an egg after "refuting" the biblical doctrine of election with the above illustration. Since this is the Arminian's favorite story, several things should be pointed out.

• First, this illustration denies that God is even close to Almighty. He desperately wants to accomplish His purpose but is unable to do so.
• Second the reason that God is unable to do what His heart desires is that another being, of equal ability and power, can checkmate Him. This terrible illustration gives the devil equal power with God.
• Third, to add insult to injury, the mighty will of man comes in to break the deadlock between God and the devil.
  

How God-dishonoring can false doctrine become? The free-willer may be "unwilling" to admit these, but his theology makes man supreme, the devil second, and God is third at worst, and tied for second, at best. I wonder if these people ever read;

• But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth Job 23:13.

• Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth Romans 9:18.

• "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.... what I have planned, that I will do." Isaiah 46:10-11 (NIV)
  

• "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
  

• "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD." Proverbs 21:30 (NIV)

• "The LORD works out everything for his own ends— even the wicked for a day of disaster." Proverbs 16:4 (NIV)

• "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,.." Ephesians 1:11 (NIV)

Does Calvinism kill Evangelism??

-Jon Irenicus

Many contenders of the Reformed theology are ignorantly accusing Calvinism of abrogating the importance and necessity of spreading the Good news (or Evangelism). The main question of the said accusation is with regards to the doctrine of Predestination. According to them (perhaps the Arminians in particular), if the Calvinist is correct that God has already planned long ago every individual's ends, then there would be no need for Evangelism. Christ's Great Commission to spread the Gospel to all nations will be of no usefulness for all elect will, in the end, be saved.

Correctly understood, however, the doctrine of predestination has several significant implications, especially in the field of Evangelism. Dr. Millard J. Erickson enumerates these positive implications of the doctrine:

• 1) We can have confidence that what God has decided will come to pass. His plan will be fulfilled, and the elect will come to faith.

• 2) We need not criticize ourselves when some people reject Christ. Jesus himself did not win everyone in his audience. He understood that all those whom the Father gave to him would come to him (John 6:37) and only they would come (v. 44). When we have done our best, we can leave the matter with the Lord.

• 3) Predestination does not nullify incentive for evangelism and missions. We do not know who the elect and the nonelect are, so we must continue to spread the Word. Our evangelistic efforts are God's MEANS to bring the elect to salvation. God's ordaining of the end includes the ordaining of the means to that end as well. The knowledge that missions are God's means is a strong motive for the endeavor and gives us CONFIDENCE that it will prove successful [no matter what].

• 4) [Grace is absolutely necessary. While Arminianism often gives strong emphasis to grace; in our Calvinistic scheme there is no basis for God's choice of some to eternal life other than his own sovereign will. There is nothing in the individual which persuades God to grant salvation to him or her.]

Predestination gives us the confidence to talk about the claims of Christ with other people. Predestination encourages evangelism because we can know that the God who sends us into the mission field is the same God who controls whatever happens. He is the same God who is able to turn the most sin-hardened heart to faith in an instant! Their stubborn free wills don’t matter—God can change them. God could change Paul, the worst enemy of the Christian faith, into the greatest of missionaries in a flash!

So, will Calvinism kill Evangelism? Charles C. Reisingler answers the question this way:

"The answer to the question is yes and no. Yes, it will kill unbiblical man-centered evangelism and some of the carnal unbiblical methods employed in man-centered evangelism.

No, it will not kill God-centered evangelism where biblical methods are employed in the great work of carrying out our Lord's clearest command." [Charles C. Reisinger, Will Calvinism kill Evangelism?]

Let us, therefore, preach the Gospel to all nations as Christ commanded!

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Is God's election Unconditional? (Part II)

[This article is a continuation of my previous article, Is God's election Unconditional? (Part I)]
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The Arminian version of election states that from eternity God elected those whom He foresaw will believe in his Son and persevere to the end by faith. This is perhaps the most popular Arminian view on election which is also called CONDITIONAL ELECTION. It says that God knew in advance those who will choose him, and on that basis he chose them.

Here is an excerpt from Brian Schwertley's Chosen of God in refutation to the Arminian concept of Conditional Election:

...How do Arminians justify their version of election (Conditional Election)? They do so with a peculiar interpretation of Romans 8:29.

• For those whom He HE HAS KNOWN BEFOREHAND He has also pre-destined to bear the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Eldest in a vast family of brothers; and those whom He has pre-destined He also has called; and those whom He has called He has also declared free from guilt (justified); and those whom He has declared free from guilt (justified) He has also crowned with glory. Romans 8:29-30 (Weymouth)

The word “foreknew” in this passage is said to simply mean that God knew something in advance. He knew before the foundation of the world who would believe and repent and on the basis of their actions God chose them. There are a number of reasons why the common “evangelical” (i.e. Arminian) understanding of Romans 8:29 is unscriptural and impossible.

The first reason is that the word “foreknow” or "to know beforehand" (pregno, aorist active indicative of proginosko) does not simply mean to have an intellectual knowledge of something before it happens. The word is an active verb, therefore, is not something done at just one point , but something God is doing.

The Ariminian idea that God looked down through time to see who would choose Him and then elected such persons implicitly denies the omnipotence and providence of God. If a human (a finite mortal) could look down the corridors of time he would have the ability to choose people on the basis of their faith or something they did. But God who controls and sustains every aspect of creation (even subatomic particles, bacteria, viruses and insects) is not an impartial observer. He both knows and controls. If He sees a man believe, He gave that man the gift of faith and preordained his salvation. Calvin writes:

“Peter doth teach that God did not only foresee that which befell Christ, but it was decreed by him. And hence must be gathered a general doctrine; because God doth no less show his providence in governing the whole world, than in appointing the death of Christ. Therefore, it belongeth to God not only to know before things to come, but of his own will to determine what he will have done.” [John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981), 1:97.]

Further, the word “foreknow” when used of God’s elect does not refer to a simple intellectual foresight or a knowing something cognitively before it happens, but rather refers to a selective knowledge which regards a person with favor and makes that person an object of love. In other words, in Romans 8:29 Paul uses “foreknow” in the Old Testament/Hebraistic sense of to love beforehand. John Murray writes:

Although the term “foreknow” is used seldom in the New Testament, it is altogether indefensible to ignore the meaning so frequently given to the word “know” in the usage of Scripture; “foreknow” merely adds the thought of “beforehand” to the word “know.” Many times in Scripture “know” has a pregnant meaning which goes beyond that of mere cognition. It is used in a sense practically synonymous with “love,” to set regard upon, to know with particular interest, delight, affection, and action (cf. Gen. 18:19; Exod. 2:25; Psalm 1:6; 144:3; Jer. 1:5; Amos 3:2; Hosea 13:5; Matt. 7:23; 1 Cor. 8:3; Gal. 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:19; 1 john 3:1)….It means “whom he set regard upon” or “whom he knew from eternity with distinguishing affection and delight” and is virtually equivalent to “whom he foreloved.” [John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959), 317.]

Saint Luke also used the word "know" equivalent to "be intimately related with" as we read in Luke 1:34,

• Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? Luke 1:34 (KJV)

Does the word "know" in the verse literally mean "to have knowledge of"? Obviously not! When the angel confronted Mary he already knew Joseph (Luke 1:27). The same is true with Romans 8:29. Those God "knew" (loved intimately) beforehand, he did predestinate. God therefore "foreknew" the persons, not anything they would do.

God’s electing love originates from Himself and not out of foreseen faith or repentance. Therefore, when the Bible discusses individual election, it always grounds it in God and not sinful, depraved humanity. Election is “according to His good pleasure” (Eph. 1:9). It is “after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11).

This interpretation of “foreknow” in Romans 8:29 is supported by the simple fact that if we accept the Arminian interpretation that God predestinated men whose future history He foreknew, then the term would prove something totally unbiblical. Why? Because God foreknows the history of every man, woman and child who ever did or will ever live. Thus, the text would teach universalism. No Arminian believes that everyone including Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin will go to heaven. It is obvious that Pol Pot, Al Capone and Heinrich Himler have not been predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.

The Arminian will object to the observation above by stating, “You are misrepresenting my position. I believe that only those people that God foreknew would choose Jesus are the ones He predestined to life.” To this objection we ask one simple question. Where in the text of Scripture does it say this? One can read the Bible very carefully, cover to cover, and this statement or any like it cannot be found. “Where are the words you have added, ‘Whom he did foreknow to repent, to believe, and to persevere in grace’? I do not find them either in the English version or in the Greek original.” Sadly, Arminian theologians and interpreters are guilty of reading their own prejudices, presuppositions and humanistic traditions into the text of Scripture.

While the Arminian interpretation is very popular and appeals to our fleshly egos and our human autonomy, we must reject it because it has no exegetical basis in Scripture. We must “bow to holy Scripture… not to glosses which theologians may choose to put upon it. Since the Arminian interpretation contradicts Scripture, is not found in the text at all and is absurd we will choose the biblical and logical alternative: that the word “know” in this passage refers to God’s saving love and favor.

The Arminian interpretation that the word “know” is purely intellectual is decisively refuted by the immediate context of Romans 8:29. The context of Romans 8:29 does not teach that God chooses on the basis of what man will do in the future. Paul does not say that man is ultimately sovereign in salvation. He says the exact opposite. In Romans 8:30ff the apostle teaches that God’s love is not a passive, helpless love, that sits by and waits to see what sinful, lost, hopeless men will do; but rather the passage sets forth a sovereign active love, a love that nothing can impede, stop or override. Paul writes:

• Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 8:30-39 (NKJV)
  

The interpretation that foreknowledge is merely the recognition that certain people will exercise faith some time in the future—a faith that is solely dependent on man and that can fail at any time—simply contradicts Paul’s emphasis on God’s determinative action in salvation. Paul presents a chain of events, all of which are dependent solely upon God. Paul is teaching a monergistic doctrine of salvation. That salvation depends solely upon divine choice and action. Paul emphasizes that God is the one who predestinates, calls, justifies, and then glorifies. Furthermore, it is Christ who achieved an objective, perfect redemption; who intercedes at the right hand of God for His people (v. 34). The three actions (called, justified, and glorified) which inevitably flow from God’s eternal counsel cannot be separated. “The future glorification of the believer is designated by the aorist, as his justification, calling, predestination, and election have been; because all these divine acts are eternal, and therefore simultaneous for the divine mind. All are equally certain" (William G. T. Shedd, Romans, 266). Paul emphasizes that salvation is certain for the elect because “God is for us” (v. 31).

Salvation is guaranteed by God’s electing love and predestinating power. Such a doctrine is totally incompatible with the idea that everything boils down to the “free” choice of people who are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1), who could lose their faith and salvation at any moment. Since it is God alone who saves, Paul can affirm that nothing created can separate the elect from God’s love (v. 39). Nothing created—not even man’s will—has the power over the elect’s final salvation. “He has shown how the present pilgrimage of the people of God falls into its place in that determinate and undefeatable plan of God that is bounded by two foci, the sovereign love of God in his eternal counsel and glorification with Christ in the age to come" (John Murray, Romans, 321). Girardeau writes:

“Whatsoever, then, may be, according to the Arminian view, the love of God towards his saints, it is a love which does not secure their salvation: it is not a saving love. It is not equal to the love which a mother cherishes for her child. She would save him if she could. This reputed divine love may be called a special love, but it is not the love for his saints which the Scriptures assign to God. The idea of it was not born of inspiration: God never claimed such love as his own... What God is assuring his children in Romans 8:29 is not that He has foreseen our favourable response to his call when the time comes and has therefore decided that we shall duly be conformed to the image of his Son. It is rather that he loved us in anticipation and determined, for reasons entirely hidden from us, that we should be conformed to the image of his Son by an act of his sovereign grace.”

Therefore, Christians can be “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

The Arminian interpretation of Romans 8:29 contradicts the biblical teaching that salvation is by the pure grace of God. If (as modern evangelicals assert) God’s predestination of the elect is based on something that men do such as faith and repentance, then ultimately conversion is not entirely a work of God’s grace. Faith and repentance are no longer gifts of God’s grace but are autonomous, self-generated acts of the human will. Men are no longer saved by or through faith (Rom. 3:22, 25, 28, 30; 5:1; Eph. 2:8) but rather because of faith. According to the Arminian interpretation “it is not God and God alone who works salvation…the actual enjoyment of salvation hangs at a decisive point upon something in man, or something done by man.”

Martin Luther repudiates the idea that God cannot save man unless man allows Him to dispense His grace. In his exposition of 1 Peter 1:2 he writes:

V. 2a. According to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Peter says, they are elected. How? Not by themselves, but according to the order or purpose of God. For we will not be able to raise ourselves to heaven nor create faith in ourselves. God will not permit all persons to enter heaven; he will very definitely identify his own. Here the human doctrine of free will and or our own ability avails nothing any longer. It does not depend upon our will but upon the will and election of God.

This means that you are chosen, you have not obtained it through your own strength, work or merit, for the treasure is too great, and all the holiness and righteousness of mankind far too worthless to obtain it; moreover you were heathen, knew nothing of God, had no hope and served dumb idols. Therefore, without any assistance on your part, out of pure grace you have come to such inexpressible glory, namely, only in the way that God the Father appointed you to it from eternity. Thus he presents the foreknowledge of God in a very beautiful and comfortable light, as it he should have said: You are chosen and you will indeed remain so, for God who foreknew you is sufficiently strong and certain that his foreknowledge cannot fail him, nevertheless so far as you believe his promise and esteem him as the true God.

From this we can in brief draw the teaching that this foreknowledge does not rest upon our worthiness and merit, as the sophists hold, for then Satan could every moment make it doubtful and overthrow it; but it rests in the hand of God, and is founded upon his mercy, which is unchangeable and eternal; consequently it is called the foreknowledge of God, and therefore it is certain and cannot fail. [Martin Luther, Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1982), 10-11.]

Further, Romans 9:11-18 makes it abundantly clear that election has nothing to do with what we do and everything to do with God’s calling. As Paul concludes, “So then it is not of him who wills [i.e., election is not a result of men exercising their free will or choosing God], nor of him who runs [i.e. it has nothing to do with human exertion or works], but of God who shows mercy” (Rom. 9:16). As Augustine so beautifully states in his Confessions:

“By your gift I had come totally not to will what I had willed but to will what you willed” Saint Augustine of Hippo

...Interestingly, one of Paul’s proofs that the gospel is the power of God is that “the world through wisdom did not know God” (1 Cor. 1:21).

• “[T]he weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called….God has chosen, the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence….as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the LORD’” (1 Cor. 1:25, 28, 29, 31).

Reformer Martin Luther understood that attributing our salvation to a human choice (i.e. “free will’) ultimately destroys the grace of God. He writes:

Granted that your friends assign to “free will as little as possible”, nonetheless they teach us that by that little we can attain righteousness and grace; and they solve the problem as to why God justifies one and abandons another simply by presupposing “free-will”, and saying: “the one endeavoured and the other did not; and God regards the one for his endeavour and despises the other; and He would be unjust were He to do anything else!...They [the guardians of “free will”] do not believe that He intercedes before God and obtains grace for them by His blood, and “grace” (as is here said) “for grace”. And as they believe, so it is unto them. Christ is in truth an inexorable judge to them, and deservedly so; for they abandon Him in His office as a Mediator and kindest Saviour, and account His blood and grace as of less worth than the efforts and endeavors of “free-will”! [Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, Translated by J. I. Packer and O. R. Johnson (Cambridge: Jones Clark, 1957), 292, 305.]

The apostle Paul says that the biblical doctrine of salvation completely excludes human boasting (Rom. 3:27). Yet, if Arminianism is true and some people have the wisdom and moral perception to choose Christ while others do not, then do they not have a reason to boast? If some men on the basis of their own intrinsic power and faith have caused God to choose them over others (who were unwilling), then do they not have a reason to brag? Of course they do!

Therefore, Arminianism cannot be true for it repeatedly contradicts Paul’s teaching. But, if men are dead in trespasses and sins and totally unable by their own will or power to respond to Christ until He raises them from the dead through regeneration, then there is no reason to boast. The biblical gospel preserves the doctrines of grace of which divine election is so integral a part.

The Arminian interpretation of Romans 8:29 explicitly contradicts the doctrine of original sin or man’s state after the fall (e.g. total depravity and spiritual inability). If God’s choice is contingent on fallen man’s prior choice, then no one would be elect for Paul says, “There is none who understands…who seeks God…who does good, no not one” (Rom. 3:11, 12). The Bible teaches that unsaved, unregenerate men hate both Christ and the truth (Jn. 3:19-21). Unregenerate fallen man: dwells in darkness (Jn. 1:4-5); is dead spiritually (Eph. 2:1-5); has a heart of stone which is unable to respond to divine truth (Ezek. 11:19); is helpless (Ezek. 16:4-6); is unable to repent (Jer. 13:23); is enslaved to Satan (Ac. 26:17-18); and is unable to see or comprehend divine truth (1 Cor. 2:14).

Unconditional election is the logical corollary to total depravity. Thus Jesus Christ taught: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.... No one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” (Jn.. 6:44, 65). An unregenerate man can no more choose Christ as Savior than can a rotting corpse raise itself.

Since the Bible teaches that the fall has rendered man incapable of believing in Christ and repenting, the idea that God looked through time and chose those who first chose him is absurd and impossible. That is why the Bible teaches that faith and repentance are gifts from God (cf. Jn. 3:3-8; 6:44-45, 65; Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:29; 2 Pet. 1:2, 3). “For unless God by sovereign, operative grace had turned our enmity to love and our disbelief to faith we would never yield the response of faith and love.” Furthermore, the biblical passages which teach unconditional election are clear and abundant.

The Arminian doctrine of a conditional election is an implicit denial of the sovereignty of God. “Evangelicals” who emphatically reject the doctrine of unconditional election, foreknowledge (biblically defined) and predestination do so because they believe that God’s prior sovereign choice and predestination infringes on human freedom. Consequently the Arminian’s concept of free will or human freedom becomes the presuppositional axis of their whole theological system. It completely alters their concept of God and their doctrine of salvation.

For example, the Arminian is well aware that the Bible teaches that God is sovereign (read 1 Chron, 29:11-14; 2 Chron. 20:6; Job 12:10-23; 36:32; 42:2; Gen. 45:7; 50:20; Ex. 2:1-10; 4:11, 21; 7:3, 13; 8:15; 9:12, 35; Deut. 2:30; Prov. 21:1, 30; 19:21; 20:24; Isa. 40:15-23; 14:24, 27; 46:10, 11; 45:7; Am. 3:6; Dan. 4:31-32; Jn. 6:44, 45, 67; 17:2, 6, 9, 12; 12:37-40; 15:16; Ac. 2:23; 4:28; 13:48; 16:14; 18:27; Rom. 9; Eph. 1:1ff, Ja. 1:17-18; etc).

But in order to preserve his philosophical concept of human freedom he proposes the idea of a self-limiting God. In other words, God voluntarily limited His absolute sovereign power so that He would not intrude upon man’s free will. This humanistic presupposition is foundational to the idea that man allows God to elect him. (In other words, in the sphere of salvation man is sovereign over God). But this self-limiting concept raises a few pertinent questions. Is it possible for God to suppress, negate or alter one of His essential attributes? Can God somehow voluntarily cease to be absolutely sovereign over certain aspects of His creation? The biblical answer to this question is absolutely not. God, the Bible tells us, cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). He can no more cease to be sovereign than could He lie, for to do so would be to deny Himself.

The idea that God can create an area of pure contingency outside of His control is just as unbiblical and absurd as teaching that God could create some part of creation that could exist without God’s sustaining power. It is simply impossible. In his zeal to protect his humanistic concept of human freedom, the Arminian must posit a God who can cease to be God.

Further, if man is to be truly free from all outside influences and forces as Arminian theology requires, then man would have to be a self-created, truly autonomous, self-sustaining being. But, that is obviously not the case. Robert L. Reymond writes:

There simply is no such thing as a will which is detached from and totally independent of the person making the choice—suspended, so to speak, in midair and enjoying some “extra-personal vantage point” from which to determine itself. The will is the “mind choosing” (Edwards). Men choose the things they do because of the complex, finite persons that they are. They cannot will to walk on water or to flap their arms and fly. Their choices in such matters are restricted by their physical capabilities. Similarly, their moral choices are also determined by the total complexion of who they are. And the Bible informs us that men are not only finite but are now also sinners, who by nature cannot bring forth good fruit (Matt. 7:18), by nature cannot hear Christ’s word that they might have life (John 8:43), by nature cannot be subject to the law of God (Rom. 8:7), by nature cannot discern truths of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:14), by nature cannot confess from the heart Jesus as Lord (1 Cor. 12:3), by nature cannot control the tongue (James 3:8), and by nature cannot come to Christ (John 6:44, 65). In order to do any of these things, they must receive powerful aid coming to them ab extra. So there simply is no such thing as a free will which can always choose the right. [Robert Reymond, 353-354.]

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Is God's election Unconditional? (part I)

-Jon Irenicus

Before anything else, I find it necessary to define precisely what is meant by the term predestination. Altough some use it interchangeably with "foreordination" and "election," for our purposes here "predestination" is midway in specificity between "foreordination" and "election." "Foreordination" we will regard as the broadest term, denoting God's will with respect to all matters which occur, whether that be the fate of individual human persons or falling of a rock. "Predestination" refers to God's choice of individuals for eternal life or eternal death. "Election" is the selection of some for eternal life, the positive side of predestination, while "Reprobation" is the negative.

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What is Unconditional Election?

The doctrine is summarized in this following statement:

...in eternity God chose some individuals from the mass of fallen humanity unto salvation without regard to any merit or foreseen faith in them, but solely based on His sovereign intentions.

Unconditinal Election, therefore, is inseparably connected and consistent with the doctrine of Total Depravity. If all of human race is totally depraved and fallen, then God must take the initiative--God must predestine. Therefore, this initiative of God does not depend on any foreseen worthiness upon the chosen individual (in the first place, all men are not and cannot be worthy in His sight), but solely upon His own independent choice, founded in his free mercy. Thus, we read in Ephesians 1:4-5 and 11:

• For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- Eph 1:4-5 (NIV)

• In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, Eph 1:11 (NIV)
  

In verse 4 we read that "he CHOSE US in him before the creation of the world TO BE holy and blameless in his sight." Election, therefore, is the cause of our merits (also in Eph 2:10)! Notice that the verse does not say, "he chose us because he foresaw we would be worthy in his sight" as some try to manipulate the meaning of the passage. Another verse verse we must consider is Christ's statement in John 15:16,

• Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. Joh 15:16 (ASV)

It should also be noted from this statement of Christ that we are not chosen because God foresaw our works. Rather, he chose us so that we should go and bear fruits and that our fruits should abide. Another point we must consider is that foreseen faith upon the chosen individual as the the basis of election is equally unacceptable because it is not us who chose Christ--it is Him who chose us. God chose us "in accordance with his [own] pleasure and will" (Eph 1:5), and is in no way based upon ANY foreseen worthiness in us.

Faith is not the cause of our election. In fact, even our faith is a gift from God and not from ourselves!

• For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This [faith] does not come from you; it is the gift of God... Eph 2:8 (ISV)

• For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; Php 1:29 (KJV)

• He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." Joh 6:65 (NIV)

Arminians hold that [only] those whom God foresaw that would accept Christ as their Lord and Savior are eventually elected. The truth is: Faith itself is not from ourselves--it is from God, and it was granted to us in behalf of Christ! God chose us even before we have done anything. Surprising as it may seem for some of us, but the Bible also testifies that God has determined already everything that is to happen in our lives:

• "...Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do." Psalms 139:16 (ESV)

Saint Paul also affirmed Unconditional Election when he used the case of Jacob and Essau to provide a relevant example in support to the doctrine. He wrote plainly in Romans 9,

• Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Romans 9:11-13 (NIV)

We can see clearly from these verses how God elected Jacob, and on the other hand, reprobated Essau, even before they were born or had done anything good or bad. Therefore, it is "not by works," Paul said, "but by Him who calls." At this point, some may object and say: "Then, is God unjust?" Saint Paul knew that some will protest against this doctrine [and consider this as a horrible one] for it seems to contradict God's Justice. For this reason, Paul went on to say...

• What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." Romans 9:14-15 (NIV)

God is just and all his ways are perfect (Deut 32:4). Even if he throw us all in hell, HE IS STILL JUST. Afterall, all of us are guilty of sin and deserving of death and hell (Rom 3:9-20). God doesn't owe us anything! In its first Article regarding Divine Election and Reprobation, The Canons of Dort explains God's justice in condemning all men under his wrath:

[Article 1] As all men have sinned in Adam, lie under the curse, and are deserving of eternal death, God would have done no injustice by leaving them all to perish and delivering them over to condemnation on account of sin, according to the words of the apostle: “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God” (Rom 3:19). And: “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). And: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). [The Canons of Dort (1618-19)]

It is by God's abundant mercy that he saves some. The nature of his grace does not nullify his Justice; in fact, it actually magnifies God's Justice. Augustine wrote:

But "why," says one, "is not the grace of God given according to men's merits?" I answer, Because God is merciful. "Why, then," it is asked, "is it not given to all?" And here I reply, Because God is a Judge. And thus grace is given by Him freely; and by His righteous judgment it is shown in some what grace confers on those to whom it is given. Let us not then be ungrateful, that according to the good pleasure of His will a merciful God delivers so many to the praise of the glory of His grace from such deserved perdition; as, if He should deliver no one therefrom, He would not be unrighteous. Let him, therefore, who is delivered love His grace. Let him who is not delivered acknowledge his due. If, in remitting a debt, goodness is perceived, in requiring it, justice— unrighteousness is never found to be with God. [Saint Augustine; On Perseverance of all Saints, Ch 16]

Ang again,

For by giving to some what they do not deserve, He has certainly willed that His grace should be gratuitous, and thus genuine grace; by not giving to all, He has shown what all deserve. Good in His goodness to some, righteous in the punishment of others; both good in respect of all, because it is good when that which is due is rendered, and righteous in respect of all, since that which is not due is given without wrong to any one. [Saint Augustine of Hippo; On Perseverance of all Saints, Ch 28]

By God's own will He chose some to be objects of His grace, and he elected them Unconditionally. Paul's conclusion on Romans 9 was:

• It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. Romans 9:16 (NIV)

The statement is self-explanatory. It is by God's own will that some are saved, and others not. What he desires, he does (Job 23:13). He does all that He pleases (Psa 115:3). He is totally Sovereign over all things, and his power is UNRESTRICTED by anything he has created (including the will and desires of man!).

• Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. Psa 135:6 (ESV)

In addition to Romans 9:11-16, Paul also mentioned Pharaoh's case to prove his conlusion in verse 16...

• For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. Rom 9:17-18 (NIV)

Therefore, God's election is undeniably based upon his own Sovereign choice, and in no way depends on man's desire and effort. Again, is God unfair? Of course not! As we have said earlier, the Lord owe us nothing! In the first place, we are not in the position to question the Almighty God of heaven and earth. We don't have any right to limit Him--He is God! Do we have the right to question God regarding this matter?

• You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? Romans 9:19-21 (ESV)

Believe it or not, this is the truth. I believe UE not because Saint Augustine says so, not because Luther or Calvin says so, not because our pastor says so, but because the Bible clearly says so.

Some argue that God's decree to save some and reject others contradicts God's love (Gk, agape). But the truth is, God's unconditional election is founded in God's love as we read in Ephesians 1:4-5:

• For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. IN LOVE HE PREDESTINED US to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- Eph 1:4-5 (NIV)

God's love is unconditional (agape). In the same way, God's election must also be unconditional.

Many will hear the Gospel, but because all men are totally depraved and incapable of having faith in Christ (as explained here), only those the Father has enabled will surely believe:

• "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day..." Joh 6:44 (NIV)

• He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." Joh 6:65 (NIV)

• "For many are invited, but few are chosen." Mat 22:14 (NIV)

It is NEVER true, therefore, that even if a sinner has truly accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, if he is not chosen, he will not be saved. This is a ridiculous misrepresentation of the doctrine of UE. The truth is, those who are not chosen will never come to Christ by faith. After all, they are totally incapable of doing so (1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 4:4). They will just continue to remain in their hopeless state of total rebellion against God (Rom 1:26). They will never believe because it is not granted to them by the Son. Christ said in Matthew 11:27,

• "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Mat 11:27 (NASB)

Another passage in the Scripture that denies the possibility of the reprobate to believe in Christ is John 10:26. Christ himself said [to the reprobates]:

• but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. Joh 10:26 (NASB)

[Please bear in mind that when Christ talks about "sheep," He is simply referring to God's elected people. On the other hand, "goat" is the figure used to designate the reprobates. (Matt 25:32-33)]

Notice that the verse (John 10:26) does not say, "but you are not my sheep (elect) because you do not believe," as some misinterprets the passage. Our faith is the result of our election, not the cause of it. We believe because we are God's sheep (elected ones). Conversely, reprobates (goats) will never turn to Christ through faith because they are not God's sheep.

Another fact we must consider is that all of God's sheep will eventually be saved to the fullest according to God's immutable election. It is plainly written in Romans 8:30,

• Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8:30 (KJV)

This is what we call The Golden Chain of Salvation. Notice that all stages of salvation mentioned in the verse are God's own doing. He will surely bring into completion what he has already begun for our salvation. Paul said in Philippians 1:6,

• being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Php 1:6 (NIV)

Hey! What about FREE WILL??

I insist, on the other hand, that UE is not inconsistent with free will, that is, as I understand the term. I deny, however, that humans have free will in the Arminian sense. What Calvinists emphasize is that sin has removed, if not freedom, at least the ability to exercise that freedom properly. Loraine Boettner, for example, compares fallen humanity to a bird with a broken wing. The bird is "free" to fly, but is unable to do so. Likewise,

"the natural man is free to come to God but not able. How can he repent of his sin when he loves it? How can he come to God when he hates him? This is the inability of the will under which man labors" [Boettner, Predestination, p.62].

It is only when God comes in his special grace to those whom he has chosen that they are able to respond. Then, seeing clearly and vividly the nature of their sins and the greatness, glory, and love of God, they will most assuredly and infallibly turn to Him.

The doctrine of sovereign election is one of the most hated doctrines of the Reformed theology. A. W. Pink put it this way:

"I am going to speak tonight on one of the most hated doctrines of the Bible, namely that of God's sovereign election,

God's sovereign election is the truth most loathed and reviled by the majority of those claiming to be believers. Let it be plainly announced that salvation originated not in the will of man but in the will of God that were it not so none would or could be saved. For as the result of the Fall man has lost all desire and will unto that which is good and that even the elect themselves have to be made willing and loud will be the cries of indignation against such teaching.

Merit‑mongers will not allow the supremacy of the divine will and the impotency of the human will. Consequently they who are the most bitter in denouncing election by the sovereign pleasure of God are the warmest in crying up the free will of fallen man,.." ~A. W. Pink

To be continued..... click here.

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